1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a stanchion, and more particularly to an adjustable cattle stanchion having a frame with at least one stanchion opening and a pivotal bar positioned in the stanchion opening and pivotally mounted to the frame. The invention further relates to a method of using an adjustable stanchion.
2) Description of the Related Art
Stanchions suitable for holding the head of an animal are known in the art. Stanchions can be used to restrain horses or goats, but are typically used to restrain cattle. The stanchions are generally used to restrain one or more head of cattle for brief periods of time. By restraining cattle during feeding, consumption may be monitored to ensure that the animals are allocated an appropriate amount of food. Restraining the cattle also facilitates veterinary examination and treatment, protecting both the animal and the attendant or veterinarian from potential injury. In dairies, stanchions are often employed to hold the cattle during the milking process. Cattle stanchions may also be used to temporarily separate one or more head of cattle from the herd.
One type of cattle stanchion includes a frame with at least one opening for receiving the head of an animal and a latching mechanism for alternately restraining and releasing the animal. One example of this type of cattle stanchion is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,232. The disclosed stanchion includes a pivotal restraining member mounted in the opening of the frame. The pivotal restraining member may be moved between a vertical position for holding the head of an animal and a diagonally-extending position when not in use. The disclosure also includes a latching mechanism which may be set by an attendant to either a latched or an unlatched position. When in the latched position, the latching mechanism will engage the pivot bar as it is pivoted to the vertical position, securing the animal's head with the stanchion. The animal may be released by moving the latching mechanism to the unlatched position. If desired, the attendant may leave the latching mechanism in the unlatched position so that the animals may freely insert their heads into the stanchion and remove their heads from the stanchion.
However, cattle not being the most intelligent of animals, tend not to feed through a stanchion if they have been raised in a pasture without prior exposure to stanchions. If these animals are moved from the pasture to a feeding area with stanchions, these animals may starve without human intervention.
Several designs of stanchions have been patented. Examples of a few are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,798, U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,815, U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,813, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,077,519. However none of these designs have included disclosure of an adjustable stanchion with a restraining bar for acclimating animals for feeding through a stanchion.
An adjustable stanchion with an adjustable substantially vertical extending side frame member is desirable. With an adjustable side frame member, the adjustable member can be moved to enlarge the stanchion opening so that cattle may feed through the stanchion without having to rotate the pivotal restraining bar. The adjustable side frame member can be moved to slowly close the stanchion opening to acclimate the cattle to the stanchion whereby the cattle would still be able to feed while becoming accustomed to the stanchion. Thus the adjustable member could be returned to its original position and the pasture cattle would be using the stanchion as other acclimated cattle. An adjustable stanchion would thereby provide an improved cattle stanchion by offering a single stanchion that can be used for both acclimated and pasture cattle and a method for acclimating cattle without excessive human involvement. An adjustable stanchion which contained a plurality of adjustable side frame members to accommodate several cattle is similarly desirable.
An adjustable cattle stanchion with a displacing assembly connected to a side frame member whereby the displacing assembly can controllably move the adjustable side frame member to several different sizes to increase or decrease the stanchion opening is also desired.
An adjustable cattle stanchion containing several stanchion openings with a displacing assembly connected to several adjustable side frame members which can move several side frame members concurrently is also desired. By utilizing a displacing assembly, several adjustable side frame members may be moved concurrently, thereby several stanchion openings could be enlarged at once, and thus several heads of cattle could acclimate at one time.
An adjustable cattle stanchion where the adjustable side frame member may be moved in several different orientations in relation to the stationary side member is another desire. The adjustable side frame member could be moved parallel to the stationary side frame member or be moved diagonally to the stationary frame side member whereby the upper end of the adjustable side frame member is pointing toward or away from the stationary side frame member. By allowing several different orientations for the adjustable side frame member, an owner can decide which orientation is best suited to acclimate their cattle to the stanchion.